Additional monthly recharges amounting to Rs 169 will also be required.

Airtel had earlier rolled out the Celkon Smart 4G for Rs 1,349.

India’s largest telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, on Wednesday announced yet another partnership with an Indian phone manufacturer, this time with Intex, for the launch of a smartphone. Airtel said it has rolled out the new Intex Aqua LIONS N1 in continuation of its ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative.

“The Intex Aqua LIONS N1, a brand new 4G smartphone from the Intex stable, will be available to Airtel customers at an effective price of just Rs 1,649 (compared to market price of Rs 3799),” Airtel said.

The bundled handset competes in the likes of the JioPhone and Vodafone’s Bharat2 Ultra.

Airtel has also partnered with brands like Karbonn for the launch of A1 Indian and A41 Power smartphones all ‘effectively’ priced under Rs 2,000.

Airtel began its ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative with Celkon offering a full touchscreen 4G smartphone at an effective price of just Rs 1,349.

Speaking about the features of the Intex Aqua phone, Airtel said, “The all new Dual SIM 4G smartphone is powered by MTK chipset with a 4” full touch WVGA screen, 2MP Rear & Front VGA camera, 1GB RAM and 8GB internal storage which is expandable up to 128GB along with a host of other exciting features.”

“We are delighted to have Intex on board as a partner and their brand familiarity plus distribution reach will add to our affordable smartphone proposition and offer more choice to our customers. We look forward to working with them towards empowering every Indian with a 4G smartphone,” Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel said.

“For Intex, consumers come first and we look at the benefits they get from our partnerships and offerings. We are delighted to launch the all new Aqua LIONS N1 exclusively under the ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative to drive the adoption of 4G smartphones. The strategic tie-up with Airtel will help Intex offer very affordable smartphones that will accelerate the shift of feature phone users to smartphone without pinching the pocket,” Nidhi Markanday, Director, Intex Technologies, said.

However customers need to make a down payment of Rs 3,149 in order to purchase the Aqua LIONS N1.

An additional monthly recharge scheme of Rs 169 will also be required for to be paid regularly for 36 months.

“After 18 months, the customer will get a cash refund of Rs 500 and another Rs 1000 after the completion of 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1500,” Airtel said.

The company is also offering its Intex Aqua A4 at an effective price of Rs 1999 and the Intex Aqua S3, for an effective price of Rs 4,379.

“In case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1000),” Airtel said.

Airtel also added that the ownership of the 4G smartphones was fully with the customer and there was no need to return the device.

Airtel’s latest affordable smartphone roll outs have been in direct competition to the JioPhone which has an ‘effective’ price of zero however customers will have to pay a down payment of Rs 1,500 and recharge on a monthly basis.